


A Black Wind Howls

by Chemical_Magecraft



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A Lot of Stuff That Would (Or Maybe Will) Give Aang a Case of the Vapors, Airbending & Airbenders, Airbending Can Actually Get Very Violent When They're Not Pacifists You Know, An Airbender Survived, And Even More Uses For Airbending, And Then Had Kids, Bending (Avatar), Book 1: Water (Avatar), But Also Some Stuff That He Might Like Actually?, But Like?, But Then I Decided That Was Boring, I Mean Look at Zaheer "I Suffocated Someone With Airbending" Doesnthavealastname, I think?, Only Minor There Was Only One Bed, Originally I Figured They'd Have Laid Low, So Dorji's Grandma Went Blue Spirit Like a Century Before Zuko Went Blue Spirit, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, That Was the Idea Behind the Fic Anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chemical_Magecraft/pseuds/Chemical_Magecraft
Summary: Airbending is an art of evasion and pacifism. Not to mention, it wouldn't be a stretch of imagination to think that maybe not all AirNomadswere in the temples during the attacks. If you think about it, it would only make sense for there to be survivors. And while the Fire Nation might have been able to hunt down most of the airbenders, the one that remained adapted to the war. Rated T because blood.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Imprisoned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Imagine me not writing a new fanfic instead of working on either my two existing fics or my college work because I sure can't apparently.
> 
> By the way the fic starts sometime during the events of Imprisoned, that one episode early in book one where they had all the earthbenders on the metal water prison.

The girl was curled up in a ball, sitting on the floor of a Fire Nation prison rig. Her black eyes were dull and she was staring at nothing in particular. The old man, Tyro, walked up to her. "Are you cold, kid?" he asked her softly.

She shook her head. The movement was barely perceptible.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

Tyro sat next to her. "Are you sure?"

She did nothing.

"Is there anyone here you know?"

She shook her head.

"Do you need someone to talk to?"

She shook her head.

Tyro sighed. "Okay. Well, if you need anything come to me."

oOoOo

_meanwhile_

"Look at this, guys!" Aang said, pointing to a board of wanted posters. The poster he was pointing at showed a person wearing a black mask with a swirling pattern on it, reminiscent of the insignia of the Air Nomads.

"The Black Wind," Sokka read. "Wanted dead or alive. If you have any information, report it to an officer. So?"

"Are you interested in the myth of the Black Wind?" a nearby villager asked. "It's intriguing, if a little morbid."

"Aang, we don't have time for this!" Katara said. "We have to find a way to save Haru."

"I'll make it quick," the villager said. "The Black Wind is a spirit that started to appear after the start of the Hundred-year War. It would attack Fire Nation resources in the Earth Kingdom under the cover of night before disappearing. It's said to have powerful control over air, akin to a master airbender, and can become one with the air itself. Some even say it can chill the air to freezing temperatures or take away firebending. Firebenders everywhere fear it."

"Really?" Sokka asked incredulously. "So there's just some all-powerful air spirit out there that hates the Fire Nation? I don't buy it, if there was something like that then wouldn't it have attacked the Fire Lord directly already?"

The villager shrugged. "It's just a myth, unfortunately. It's said that the Black Wind was born from the dying malice of the Air Nomads."

Katara grabbed Aang and pulled him away. "Thank you, but we have to go now."

"Can you believe that guy?" Sokka said. "'Master airbender spirit.' Like that'd happen!" He looked at Aang. "No offense, of course."

Aang was beaming. "No, you're right, Sokka!"

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "I know I am, but I thought you'd be less happy about that."

Aang grinned from ear to ear. "Don't you see, Sokka? There _can't_ be a spirit like that!"

Sokka frowned. "Iiii don't get what you're- OH!" He pointed at Aang. "You're hoping they're _not_ a spirit!"

"Yeah!" Aang nodded.

"I don't get it," Katara said.

"The rumors have to come from somewhere," Sokka said.

"Maybe it comes from an airbender who escaped the Fire Nation!" Aang added.

"Okay, we should definitely check that out," Katara conceded. "But let's save Haru first."

oOoOo

_later_

Katara got up on the raised air vent. "Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know you! Every child of my home was told bedtime stories of the brave Earth Kingdom and the fearless benders who guard it! Some you you may think that the Fire Nation has taken away your power, but they haven't! They may take away the earth, but they can't take away your courage! And it's your courage that they should fear! Your courage is your real power, and they can never take that away! So remember your courage and fight back!" The earthbenders heard her speech, but while it resonated with them just a little bit they still didn't have hope they could win...

And unbeknownst to her, Katara's speech was heard by more than the earthbenders and the guards. The girl thought about the reason why she was there in the first place.

oOoOo

_a few days ago_

The day was clear, the sun beating down on the forest. Two shadowy figures darted through the trees with inhuman speed and agility, dodging fire blasts thrown by a squad of firebenders mounted on mongoose lizards. "Get them!" their leader shouted. The shadowy figures nodded at each other and pulled out daggers. As they ran, they slashed at the trees in front of them. Their blades went nowhere near the trees themselves but they were cut through nonetheless, as if by invisible saws. The trees collapsed as they ran past, obstructing the firebenders. While their mounts were agile enough to climb over the felled trees, they slowed down in doing so. "You can run but you can't hide, airbenders!" the leader shouted at them as they ran away.

The figures sped through the forest, still toppling the occasional tree. It looked like they were going to escape the forest... and then a wall of fire erupted, blocking off their exit. More mounted firebenders emerged from the fire. "Fan out!" one of them shouted. "We can't let them escape again!"

The shadowy figures jumped back, landing on tree branches. They separated, jumping from tree to tree to shake their pursuers. The smaller of the two shadowy figures, a young girl, stopped after a few minutes when she was confident she was safe. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, seemingly to thin air. "This is all my fault."

The larger of the figures appeared to materialize out of thin air, hugging her. "This is not your fault, my child," he told her.

"But..."

The man shook his head. "But nothing. We _will_ get out of here alive." He pulled two rods from his belt and combined them to make a staff, which he presented to the girl. "Here. Take this."

"This is your staff," she said.

The man chuckled. "I really should've made you your own a while ago. I guess this is karma for that. Take it and leave. Fly as far away as you can. I'll find you, don't worry about me." The girl grabbed at the man, but he drifted away from her as if weightless. He started to vanish, fading from view. " _Goodbye, my daughter. Remember, I will always love you,_ " he said, his voice a whisper on the wind.

In the forest below, the firebenders had gathered, except a few who kept guard of the perimeter. "Where are they!" the leader of the firebenders demanded.

"I don't know, it's like they disappeared!" one of his subordinates responded.

"Then _find them_!"

Before the firebenders could disperse again, the forest exploded like a bomb was dropped. Frigid, gale-force winds battered the firebenders, their mounts, and even the trees. Blades of wind sliced at every surface, cutting through the firebenders' armor and even killing some outright.

When the winds subsided, frost covered everything. The taller shadowy figure stood in the center of the swirling crater made by the blast. "Captain Zhao," he said. His face couldn't be seen behind his swirl-patterned black mask, but it didn't need to be for everyone present to know he was scowling.

The named leader's armor began to steam as he heated himself up. "It's _Commander_ Zhao now, and it'll soon be Admiral when I drag your steaming corpse back to the Fire Lord, _Black Wind_."

" _If_ ," the Black Wind corrected him.

Zhao sneered. " _When_. Speaking of, where's the girl?"

"I sent her away so I can kill you all in peace." The man got into an unusual fighting stance.

"No matter, I suppose I'll find her when I'm done with you." Zhao smirked. "Not like a child can do much to threaten the might of the Fire Nation." He dismounted and assumed his own stance. His men followed his lead.

"Careful," the Black Wind cautioned. "Underestimate my daughter and she might be the death of you. At the very least you'll lose a limb."

"I'll be the judge of that. Get him," he ordered. The firebenders threw blasts of fire at the man, but a smoke bomb popped from a pouch at his waist and exploded, as if on its own. The fireballs tore through the smoke cloud, but the Black Wind was nowhere to be found.

"Where did he go?" one of the firebenders asked. The Black Wind appeared behind him like a specter of death, cleaving him in two without even touching him before fading back into thin air.

"H-how is he doing that?" another firebender asked.

"Magic," the Black Wind appeared in front of him before driving his dagger into his neck. The firebenders shot at him, but only hit their ally as Black Wind had vanished again.

Zhao clenched his teeth. He had to be somewhere. He was only human, and not even the most powerful bender could _become_ their element. He looked around carefully. _There_. Specks of blood trailed from Black Wind's last victim. Another one appeared, though it didn't look like there was anywhere it could have come from. Zhao threw a wave of fire in its general direction.

The fire was blown away, revealing Black Wind for but a moment before he started to fade away again. "He's invisible!" Zhao shouted. "Whatever technique he's doing, he can't do it and bend at the same time! Keep the pressure up!"

The firebenders threw more fire at their target. He deflected them all with a cocoon of air, revealing himself again. "Heh," the Black Wind said. "You're smart, I'll give you that." He turned invisible again. " _Too bad I have to kill you now._ " His voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Zhao looked around, trying to see where Black Wind had gone. So this is why Sozin had started the war with an attack on the airbenders. He was honestly terrified. His heart was pounding and it felt hard to breathe. He sucked in a breath. No, it was definitely getting harder to breath. " _He's suffocating us!_ " he tried to say, but no noise came from his mouth. Was this how he would die?

No, his destiny was greater than that! he couldn't die! Zhao calmed himself, trying to steady his breathing. The longer he waited, the weaker his firebending would be. He needed to find the Black Wind _now_. He looked around, trying to find the telltale blood from his soldier. There were red spots on the trees! Zhao blasted a branch. Nothing. He tried his best to take a deep breath and glared at the remaining soldiers. They were panicking, but his fire blast shook them out of it. They nodded and started blasting the trees too. Soon the forest around them was burning, but they still hadn't hit the Black Wind.

" _Tick tock,_ " the Black Wind's voice taunted. Zhao could barely breathe at this point. He only had enough breath left for one fire jab. He'd have to make it count. He looked around as carefully as he could. He saw a person-shaped shimmer of air from one of the higher branches, the heat apparently distorting the Black Wind's technique for a moment. Zhao poured the last of his fire into his punch, hitting not the Black Wind but the branch under his feet. With his footing lost the Black Wind fell, unable to concentrate on either of his techniques. Zhao gasped as he was suddenly able to breathe again and threw as strong of a fire blast as he could manage at the now-visible Black Wind. His men did the same, and while the Black Wind was able to block them all he hit his head on a branch. Dazed, the Black Wind fell to the ground.

Zhao walked over to the Black Wind. "What was that about you killing us?" he asked the black-clad man before kicking him into unconsciousness, then grinned. "Tie him up, fast. I don't want him to be able to move a muscle and we should get him in chains before he wakes up." His smirk widened. "The Fire Lord will be pleased."

"What about the girl?" one of the firebenders asked.

"She must be miles away by now," Zhao said. "No use looking for her, not to mention the risk of leaving him unattended. We'll just have to keep up a good guard and hope for the best. Now hurry, before he wakes up!"

But the girl wasn't miles away. In fact, she was hiding in one of the trees, sobbing. She'd seen the whole fight.

oOoOo

_one week later_

The girl was on her feet again. She knew that the new girl's speech from yesterday wasn't directed at her, but even still it resonated with her. And when the coal burst through the air vent, a shine returned to her eyes. A shine that had been missing ever since she saw her father get taken away. And even before Haru threw the first stone, the girl was looking for ways to attack the firebenders while making it look like she was an earthbender. When the fighting broke out, she reached out at a few pieces of coal. The coal dust swirled around them and they floated into the air. She shakily copied one of the earthbenders throwing coal, shooting her coal at the firebenders. Nobody noticed, in the confusion, that even the pieces of coal that narrowly missed scored deep cuts in the firebenders or sliced gashes in their armor. And the ones that hit... left holes.

The girl picked up more rocks, looking for more firebenders to throw them at. She saw a firebender about to attack _was that another airbender?_ If not he was some weird, really diligent cosplayer. The girl shot one rock at the firebender's solar plexus, making the air bullet around it blunt instead of sharp. She didn't want to frighten the airbender, if he was an airbender. The old airbenders didn't like murder, right? That felt like something her father told her at some point. The rock, or rather the air bullet hit the firebender perfectly on target. The firebender collapsed with a loud shout as _all_ the air was forced out of his lungs. The airbender smiled and nodded at the girl, then threw another firebender overboard with a gale of wind. The firebender that the girl had hit shakily got back up and punched at the airbender's back.

Only a puff of smoke came from his fist. He stared at his hand with horror before he was thrown off the platform too. The airbender then did some kind of improvised airbending move, a tornado funnel from the looks of it, and shouted for his friends to get him coal. The girl picked up a few more pieces of coal and sprinted to the airbender. She placed the coal in the funnel with the others. The coal shot at some firebenders, knocking them off of the platform. The girl then saw Tyro and Haru grab the warden and the few remaining firebenders with coal and dump them overboard. She breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed something. There was a necklace on the ground. It looked like the one the girl who made the speech was wearing earlier. Maybe it fell off while she was fighting?

The girl walked over to it and picked it up. It was a choker with a stone carved with the symbol for waterbending on it. " _Is that girl from the Water Tribe?_ " the girl wondered to herself. It looked like she was friends with the airbender too. The girl looked around and saw that the two, plus a boy who looked like he could be related to the water tribe girl, were heading to the boats. She ran after them.

oOoOo

"Thank you Katara," Tyro said. "You gave me hope again. You gave us _all_ hope again. And now we're going to give the rest of the Earth Kingdom hope again."

"Come with us, Katara," Haru offered.

"I'd love to," Katara said, "but we have to take Aang to the North Pole."

"Aang. He's the Avatar, isn't he?" Haru asked.

"Yeah..." Katara touched her neck wistfully. She gasped when she noticed that her choker was gone. "My mother's necklace!"

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and turned around to see a small girl who looked maybe a little bit like Aang if he was a few inches shorter, had no tattoos, and had short short black hair holding her mother's necklace. "I think you dropped this," she said quietly. She may have looked like Aang, but she didn't really act like him... "You should keep better track of this while fighting, if it's important to you."

Katara took the necklace and put it on. "Thank you so much!" she said gratefully and hugged her. The girl flinched, but didn't resist it.

"Um... You said that you're traveling with the Avatar, right?" the girl asked when Katara let her go. She was blushing slightly. "Can I please speak with him?"

"Sure, just follow me." When Katara started walking, it didn't feel like the girl was following her. But when she stopped and looked at her, the girl was still right behind her.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Sorry, just... didn't think you were following me for some reason."

The girl nodded. "I understand. I'm pretty quiet."

Katara turned back around and started walking again. She couldn't hear or feel the girl moving behind her at all. She wouldn't say anything to her, but it was a little creepy...

"Hey, Katara!" Aang said when she walked up to him.

"Who's that girl behind you?" Sokka asked.

"And why does she look kinda familiar?" Aang added.

"Aang, Sokka, this is... sorry, I never actually asked your name," Katara said.

The girl nodded. "That's okay. My name is Dorji."

Aang's eyes widened and he pointed at her. "That's an Air Nomad name!"

"Really?" Sokka asked.

Dorji nodded. The rough brown tunic that the firebenders had made her and the other prisoners wear over their clothes exploded in a burst of air, revealing the clothes she was wearing underneath. They were mostly black, with a few bits of green. "I'm an airbender."

"Another airbender!" Aang hugged Dorji. Just like with Katara, she looked uncomfortable but didn't say anything.

Sokka frowned. "I know you're excited you found another airbender, Aang, but why were you even here to begin with?" He pointed at Dorji. "I doubt the Fire Nation would just stick an airbender in a prison for earthbenders, especially when the last airbender is supposedly the Avatar."

"Sokka-" Katara started to object, but Dorji cut her off.

"No, it's a reasonable question. I'm sure if I actually told those soldiers I was an airbender I would have been taken directly to the Fire Nation, if not killed outright..." She sniffed and rubbed a tear from her eye. "At least, that was what happened to my father..."

Katara slapped Sokka. " _Hey!_ " Sokka objected.

"Instead I pretended to be an earthbender. They were rough, but didn't hurt me."

"Were you also planning a breakout?" Aang asked.

Dorji looked away and clutched her arm nervously. "No. I... lost hope." She bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. "Y-you have to understand, my father..." She sniffed. "M-my... my father..." She started crying, still trying to explain herself between sobs.

Aang hugged her again. This time she didn't flinch, though only because she was too busy sobbing. "It's okay."

"I-I'm s-sorry..." Dorji muttered.

Katara and Sokka hugged her too. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Katara asked.

Dorji nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"It feels bad now, but it gets easier," Sokka added softly.

Dorji sniffed after a few minutes. "I'm better now."

The three let go of her. "Do you have someone you can go to?" Katara asked.

"My grandmother is still alive, but..." She pressed her fingers together nervously. "Do you mind if I come with you three?"

Aang grinned. "Well I'd love it if you came along! We airbenders gotta stick together, right?"

"I don't see why not," Katara added.

"Welcome to Team Avatar, I guess," Sokka said. "Now let's go. We've already spent a lot of time here, and we're supposed to be heading to the North Pole."

Dorji nodded. "To find a waterbending master for the Avatar?"

"And me," Katara said. "I'm a waterbender, but unfortunately I never had a proper teacher so I'm not too good..."

"I see," Dorji said. "Though, do you mind making a few short stops for me? They should be on the way, and I promise I'll try to be quick."

"Sure thing!" Aang said before Sokka could voice his concerns. "Now hop on Appa!" He pointed to the flying bison.

Dorji admired him. "A real flying bison... I thought they were all wiped out..."

"You can gawk at him all you want in the air," Sokka told her.

oOoOo

"So what are we doing here?" Sokka asked as he pushed aside a tree branch.

"I was worried that the firebenders would figure out who I really was due to my equipment, so I hid them somewhere I hoped nobody would find them," Dorji explained, ducking and weaving through the thick branches like she was born in that forest. "You guys didn't have to come." She stopped in front of a large tree. "We're here."

"What are we looking for?" Katara asked.

Dorji jumped, easily reaching one of the lower branches of the tree. "I'll be back shortly." She jumped again, disappearing into the leaves.

"Something seems off about her," Sokka said.

"Sokka!" Katara glared at him.

Aang frowned. "I don't think it's anything bad, but I think I know what you're talking about. She doesn't carry herself like the airbenders I remember. It's like... the difference between a rabbit and a cat, I guess."

"I understand your concerns," Dorji said as she floated down from the tree, a package bundled in a tarp floating in front of her in an air bubble. "The power of airbending may have survived through my family line, but unfortunately the spirit of the Air Nomads lives on only through you." Aang winced at that comment. Dorji touched down lightly and let the package float to the ground. The tarp unfurled, revealing a belt with several pouches and two daggers sheathed on it, a black staff segmented in two pieces, and a black, swirling mask. "My grandmother was never fit to be a monk."

"You're the Black Wind," Sokka realized.

Dorji shook her head. "My father was the Black Wind, and my grandmother before him." She picked up the belt with her airbending and put it on. "I am next in line, though. I understand if you have concerns, but I do hope you don't change your minds." She stowed the segments of her father's staff on her belt. "Don't worry, though, I won't be wearing the mask a lot. For the most part it's sentimental. But the spirit of defiance against the Fire Nation I am hoping to carry on through my companionship with you."

Aang frowned for a moment, but forced a smile. "It's... fine. Don't worry about it."

Sokka shrugged. "Well if Aang's fine with it so am I." He slung his arm around Aang's shoulder. "Isn't this cool, Aang? We're gonna be traveling with an actual ninja!"

Aang chuckled nervously. "Yyyeah..."

Katara frowned at him. That didn't sound good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay so I had this idea like a while ago, then I started rewatching ATLA and got so much inspiration (like for example one of Iroh's first lines in the series was something along the lines of "Fire comes from the breath, not the muscle," which inspired one of Dorji's techniques), so here we are in the future.
> 
> Also if anyone has any like tips or anything on how to write bending and fighty stuff better (especially Dorji because while there are some similarities she's supposed to have a fighting style distinct from regular airbending which means I can't use anything from canon for reference...) PLEASE TELL ME. Or tips in general actually. Just please don't phrase it too rudely please.


	2. The Survivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I decided to do that "Previously on Avatar..." thing they do before like all the episodes in ATLA to remind you of some plot points that'll be relevant because it's cool and stuff. I mean I'll probably regret it later but oh well.

_Previously on Avatar..._

_"Look at this, guys!" Aang said, pointing to a board of wanted posters. The poster he was pointing at showed a person wearing a black mask with a swirling pattern on it, reminiscent of the insignia of the Air Nomads._

_"The Black Wind is a spirit that started to appear after the start of the Hundred-year War. It's said to have powerful control over air, akin to a master airbender, and can become one with the air itself."_

_"Maybe it comes from an airbender who escaped the Fire Nation!" Aang added._

_Frigid, gale-force winds battered the firebenders, their mounts, and even the trees. Blades of wind sliced at every surface, cutting through the firebenders' armor and even killing some outright._

_The taller shadowy figure stood in the center of the swirling crater made by the blast. His face couldn't be seen behind his swirl-patterned black mask, but it didn't need to be for everyone present to know he was scowling._

_"My name is Dorji. I'm an airbender."_

_"Y-you have to understand, my father..." She sniffed. "M-my... my father..." She started crying, still trying to explain herself between sobs._

_"The power of airbending may have survived through my family line, but unfortunately the spirit of the Air Nomads lives on only through you." Aang winced at that comment._

_Aang frowned for a moment, but forced a smile. "It's... fine. Don't worry about it."_

oOoOo

Aang sat on Appa's head, silently brooding as he held Appa's reins. Dorji sat in the back of Appa's saddle, curled up with her arms hooked under her knees.

"So, uh... what do you do for fun?" Sokka asked her, cutting through the awkward silence.

"Training," Dorji muttered. "Sometimes I play Pai Sho too, though only when one of my family members wants to play. I'm told that most people underestimate the value of the White Lotus tile."

"Really?" Katara asked.

Dorji shrugged. "There are a few unusual strategies you can do with it." She took one arm out from under her legs and started rubbing Appa's fur. Momo flew up to her and curiously sniffed at her. Dorji started petting him too.

"Do you like animals?" Katara asked.

Dorji nodded and picked up Momo. The lemur purred as she rubbed behind his ears.

"I think I see the thing you told me to look for," Aang said. "What are we doing here, again?"

"It's a surprise," Dorji said.

Aang frowned. "Well, we're landing."

oOoOo

"Is this... a moon peach orchard?" Katara asked. Dorji had had Aang land Appa in a small clearing surrounded by moon peach trees in a large plot of land mostly filled with neat rows of trees.

Dorji nodded and walked over to one of the trees. She jumped to pull down a branch and appraised one of the moon peaches on it, cutting the stem with a swipe of her thumb when she was satisfied with its quality. "We grow more things too, but this part is where all the moon peach trees are." She leaned on the tree and started eating her peach. Momo flew onto her shoulder and stared longingly at the peach. Dorji picked another peach and handed it to him.

"Should you really be stealing moon peaches?" Aang asked her in a slightly accusatory tone.

Dorji shrugged. "Not stealing. Take some if you want."

Aang's frown deepened slightly. "What do you meant by that?"

A very tall woman walked between two trees. "Dorji, is that you?" she said and bounded over to the girl. Katara and Sokka got ready to fight, but relaxed when the woman scooped Dorji up for a big bear hug. "We were so worried about you!"

"Hello, Lhamo," Dorji said, returning the hug. Her facial expression and tone of voice didn't change too much, but she still looked like she was at ease with the woman. When the woman released her she climbed onto and sat on her broad shoulders. "Katara, Sokka, Aang, this is my cousin, Lhamo. Lhamo, this is Katara, Sokka, and Aang. They're my... acquaintances."

Lhamo gasped and hugged the three. "Dorji has friends her age!"

" _Acquaintances,_ " Dorji muttered.

Lhamo put the teens (and child) down and beamed at them. "So, how'd you guys meet my cute little cousin?"

"Um... We stumbled across each other after freeing some earthbenders from the Fire Nation?" Aang said.

Lhamo chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like something she'd do."

Dorji shook her head. "I deserve no honor for what I did."

Aang frowned. Before he could think of what to say, the giant woman crouched down to get a better look at him. "Wait a second, you're an airbender! Wow, I thought Grandmother, Uncle Wangchuck, and Dorji were the only ones left!" She paused. "You _are_ an airbender, right?"

Aang nodded morosely.

Lhamo straightened back up and grinned. "I've gotta take you to Grandmother, then! She was actually around before the Hundred-year War!"

Aang perked up a bit at that. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah! She was kinda young, but she was raised in the Eastern Air Temple. Apparently she met the Avatar a few times before he disappeared." This made Aang tense up again. "Is something wrong?"

Aang flinched. "Oh, no it's..."

"Aang's the Avatar," Dorji chimed in from Lhamo's shoulder.

Lhamo tilted her head. "You don't look like you're older than Grandmother."

"We found Aang in an iceberg," Katara said. "He was frozen for one hundred years."

"Still not sure how that works, except 'Avatar magic,'" Sokka added.

"Wow," Lhamo said. "Yeah, I have no idea how that'd work."

"Why don't we see Grandmother now," Dorji suggested.

Lhamo nodded. "Right, follow me." She guided the three out of the clearing and down a row of trees to a large house. They walked by a few workers along the way, who all greeted Dorji and told her they were worried when she went missing. She tersely thanked them, but didn't really say much else. When they got to the house Lhamo let them inside. The room on the other side of the doorway was empty save for a few sofas surrounding a small table. "Huh, she was here when I last saw her," Lhamo said.

"Grandmother is perfectly capable of movement," Dorji said. "Very fast, when she wants too."

" _And nobody knows where I am, when I don't want them to,_ " a slightly distorted voice said. It was clear that it belonged to an old woman, though. The door suddenly creaked shut. When everyone looked at it they saw a rather short old woman with long white hair appear with her hand on the white lotus design in the middle of the door, as if out of thin air. She was wearing dark clothes of a similar fashion to Dorji's, though instead of forest green it had hints of dark orange. "Where the hell were you, kid?"

"Grandmother," Dorji said, then hopped off Lhamo's shoulder. She bowed down, her forehead touching the floor. "I have failed you and Father. Father was captured by the Fire Nation because of my blunder, and after he was I... I ran."

"Dorji," the woman said sternly. "You know my back is bad. Get up so I can fucking hug you already."

Dorji tensed up. "But..."

The woman didn't so much as twitch but Dorji was pushed back onto her feet, the lightest expression of surprise on the girl's face. The woman hugged her and stroked her hair. "You idiot. Did you really think your own grandmother would hate you for making a mistake or two?"

Dorji sniffed. "But I..."

"Kid, even _I_ make mistakes. It's okay to be scared." Dorji started crying again. "There, there. Let it out. Dooon't worry about getting snot on my clothes," the woman said softly.

"Aww, c'mere you guys!" Lhamo said and also started hugging Dorji. Aang, Sokka, and Katara just stood there, not sure of what to do but not wanting to interrupt.

"Now then," the old woman said after Dorji stopped crying and the two released her, "you brought guests. Why don't you two go make some tea for us?"

"Okay, grandmother!" Lhamo said. Dorji nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

The old woman sat down on one of the sofas. "Ah," she sighed. "Getting old fucking sucks. Why can't I go back to when my legs _didn't_ hurt if I stood up for more than ten minutes?" She looked at her guests. "Well? Sit down already!"

"Oh, sorry," Katara said. The three sat down.

The old woman frowned at them for a few minutes. "Now, speaking of old age... Aang, how the _hell_ do you still look twelve?"

Aang blinked. "What are you..." He thought for a moment. "Wait... is that _you_ , Tsering?"

The old woman, apparently named Tsering, chuckled. "I'd gripe about you taking so long to remember me, but to be fair I think I have a few more wrinkles than the last time we met."

"What happened to you?" Aang asked.

Tsering grimaced. "I survived. I was eight when the Fire Nation attacked the temples, you know. It was pretty damn traumatizing. I still have nightmares sometimes..."

Aang winced, looking very guilty. "I should've been there. I'm the Avatar, I could've...

Tsering snorted. "You would've _died_. I did some research on what the _fuck_ happened that day. Apparently the Fire Nation took advantage of a firebending-enhancing event called Sozin's Comet that happens once every hundred years to enhance their attack. I only got out through sheer luck. And after that the Fire Nation started hunting down what few airbenders were left. I stumbled upon this very orchard when I was on the run and the man running it took me in, no questions asked. That's the only reason I survived."

'We've got tea!" Lhamo said as she returned from the kitchen, holding a tray with a tea set on it. She set it on the table and Dorji silently distributed everyone's teacups. Lhamo poured the tea.

"That was fast," Sokka noted as he looked at his steaming tea.

"Thank you," Tsering said. She waved her hand over her tea, causing a miniature whirlwind to stir it and cool it down considerably before she drank it. Dorji blew on hers like a normal person, though. "Your tea is delicious as always, you two. So, Aang, you never really answered my question. What happened to you?"

Aang sighed. "I... I ran. I heard that they were going to take Gyatso away from me and I got so angry, so I ran. I'm sorry."

Tsering stared flatly at him and made a flicking motion in his general direction. Aang flinched as he felt a light blow on his forehead, like he was flicked by air. "Kid, were you _not_ paying attention to what I said when I was consoling my granddaughter?"

Aang rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, but I'm the Avatar. I should've been better than that..."

" _Bullshit,_ " Tsering objected. "You were younger than Dorji is now, don't feel like you always have to be this great spiritual leader all the time."

"Wait, Aang's younger than Dorji?" Katara asked.

"I'm _fourteen,_ " Dorji muttered, slightly indignant.

"So what happened after the iceberg?" Lhamo asked.

"We went to Aang's childhood home, the Southern Air Temple," Katara said.

Tsering nodded. "I went back there once, after the Fire Nation heat died down. It... wasn't very pretty."

Aang shook his head and took a sip of his tea. "After that we, uh, went to Kyoshi Island. That was a lot more pleasant."

Tsering grinned. "Enjoying the warrior women, eh? Don't worry, I did that too when I visited that place."

Aang blushed. "N-no, I..."

Tsering laughed and slapped her knee. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

"And after that we went to Omashu. It was surprisingly terrifying," Sokka said.

"We met an old friend of Aang's, though," Katara added.

"So you met Bumi, then?" Tsering asked.

Aang smiled. "It was good to see an old friend. The same goes for you, too." Then he frowned. "Wait, I didn't know you knew Bumi."

Tsering chuckled. "All old people know each other. Shouldn't you know that by now?" She drank some of her tea. "We met a few times, when I was a young lass of thirty-something. Got to know each other. Carnally." Aang spat out his tea at that last comment. Tsering raised her hand, causing the flying tea to turn into a small cloud before condensing into a liquid marble held in place by an air ball. She dropped the tea back into his cup with another lazy gesture. "Let's not waste tea."

"No offense, Tsering," Aang said, blushing, "but I never thought you'd... well..."

She shrugged. "The last time you saw me I was like eight. I'd be more offended if you did."

"R-right."

"This is awkward..." Dorji muttered.

Lhamo stood up. "Right, so Dorji's gonna go with you guys, right?"

Dorji nodded. "I would like to."

Lhamo rubbed her hands together. "Then why don't you and I bake them all Dorji's favorite moon peach pie, Grandmother?"

Dorji and Tsering both stood up. "No, you sit back down," Tsering said.

"I can help bake the pie," Dorji offered.

Tsering shook her head. "No, this pie is for you. Plus, if you wanna be useful you could probably see to getting Aang's bison fed. Aah, what was his name again, Aang? Opa?"

"Appa," Aang corrected.

"Appa. I'm sure the big guy would like something to eat."

Dorji nodded. "I can do that. Follow me, Aang."

"Yeah, sure..."

oOoOo

By the time the pie was done the sun was starting to set, so Tsering offered (demanded) to let Team Avatar sleep over for the night. Dorji and Katara were to sleep in Dorji's room, while Aang and Sokka took the guest room.

"Your room is... nice," Katara said hesitantly. It was a little minimalistic. There was a wardrobe in one corner, a bed with a nightstand in the other, and a rug on the floor. The bed had a few stuffed animals on it, though. One of them looked like a homemade sky bison plush.

Dorji picked up the sky bison and sat on the rug, hugging her plush. "You take the bed. You're the guest."

Katara shook her head. "No, you take the bed."

"I'm fine on the floor."

"Tell you what," Katara said, then sat down on the bed and patted it. "Your bed is kinda big and you're... not that big. Why don't we share it?"

Dorji thought about it for a moment. "Sure. It shouldn't be too uncomfortable." She got in the bed with Katara.

Meanwhile, in the guest room, Aang was sitting up in his bed while Sokka was under his covers. "Something wrong, Aang?" Sokka asked.

"N... no, I'm fine," Aang said. He didn't turn to Sokka so he couldn't see his frown.

"Was there something wrong with the pie?" Sokka asked. "I mean, you looked like you were pretty uncomfortable while you were eating that pie."

"No," Aang said gloomily. "The pie was delicious. I haven't eaten a genuine Air Nomad fruit pie in a while, and it was as good as I remember." He chuckled. "It was nice to see something from my culture preserved."

Sokka sat up slowly. "Actually, I think I know what your problem is," he said somberly.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I've been there before." Sokka sighed. "When I was young, my dad and the rest of the men of our tribe left to help fight the Fire Nation. I was the only male left in our tribe. Well, except for the ones who were babies at the time..." He clenched his fists. "I felt like... I _had_ to be the man, y'know? I know it was just stuff I was putting on myself, but I felt so much pressure to do all the man stuff. I _had to_ learn how to fight, I _had to_ provide for the tribe, I _had to_ train the kids when they grew up. I was surrounded by people, but I just... felt like there was nobody I could talk to about it..." He sighed. "Sorry, that might not be exactly what you're going through. Just... remember that you _do_ have people to talk to."

Aang sighed. "Thanks, Sokka..."

"You're welcome." He yawned. "Right, I'm gonna sleep now. Don't stay up too late!" Sokka's head hit the pillow and he almost immediately fell asleep.

_Later, around midnight..._

For the first time in her life Dorji had a very flustered expression on her face. At some point Katara had shifted in her sleep, ending up with her arm hooked around Dorji's waist. Judging from the red glow dusting her cheeks and ears Dorji had some very conflicting feelings about this. " _Shiiiiit_..." she muttered softly, realizing that this would be a very long night.

And in the guest room Aang was also still up as well, though without anyone hugging him in his sleep. He had gotten under the covers, but in all his restless fidgeting he'd thrown them back off. Despite what Sokka had said, Aang simply couldn't sleep. How could he when all he could think about was how little of the Air Nomads were left?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this was the first of hopefully multiple storylines original to this fic. Ideally I'd like to do more of that, but as of right now I kinda don't have any ideas for them... If you have any suggestions I'm open to them. Though originally this and the next chapter were going to be one chapter but I decided to maybe cut them in half because it was getting a lil long.
> 
> Also.
> 
> Aang: Spends the night worrying about being the last of his kind and the implications thereof  
> Dorji: _gay panic_


	3. The Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hate finals and am glad that I'm done with them. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!
> 
> By the way, if you haven't noticed by now I decided to give all the chapters titles. A chapter that follows the events of an original ATLA name will share its title, but original chapters will have original names.
> 
> Also, in case anyone was curious, my mental image of Lhamo is that she looks and sounds like Scorpia from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, except not a scorpion and with black hair. Meanwhile, I may or may not have thought of Old Toph from TLoK a little when writing Tsering. To be honest, though, I don't really have any one character to point to for Dorji, aside from the in-universe comparison between her and Aang (though it might be more accurate to say she looks like a mix between Toph and Aang, just nobody's seen Toph yet and therefore cannot make that comparison). As for personality, according to TVTropes she might be described as a Rei Ayanami Expy, though I haven't seen Neon Genesis Evangelion so I can't say for sure if that's the best comparison. And just a little fun fact, despite being currently the shortest member of the Gaang (roughly 3'11, and I found a thing that says that Aang is 4'6, Katara is 4'9, and Sokka is 4'11, though it wasn't exactly official so it might be slightly off) she is the second oldest, being a few months older than Katara. Assuming you count Aang as 12 and not 112.

_Previously on Avatar..._

_The firebender that the girl had hit shakily got back up and punched at the airbender's back. Only a puff of smoke came from his fist._

_"My name is Dorji. I'm an airbender."_

_"The power of airbending may have survived through my family line, but unfortunately the spirit of the Air Nomads lives on only through you." Aang winced at that comment._

_"Should you really be stealing moon peaches?" Aang asked her in a slightly accusatory tone._

_Dorji shrugged. "Not stealing."_

_Lhamo gasped and hugged the three. "Dorji has friends her age!"_

_"Is that you, Tsering?" Aang asked._

_Tsering grimaced. "I survived."_

_At some point Katara had shifted in her sleep, ending up with her arm hooked around Dorji's waist. Judging from the red glow dusting her cheeks and ears Dorji had some very conflicting feelings about this. "_ Shiiiiit _..." she muttered softly._

_Aang simply couldn't sleep._

oOoOo

Aang and Dorji, both very tired, grunted at each other sleepily when they met in the hall, both rubbing their eyes. "Couldn't sleep?" Aang asked.

"Couldn't sleep..." Dorji nodded after a few moments, like she hadn't heard Aang at first. While Aang had fully opened his eyes, Dorji's were still half-closed drowsily.

"I kinda stayed up all night thinking. You?"

Dorji's cheeks turned a nice shade of pink. "...Also thinking." After a silence that could have been either her insomnia-addled brain trying to think or just her having dozed off for a bit she said, "Actually could you please put your hand on my stomach?"

"What? Why?" Aang asked.

Dorji's blush returned. "I'm... curious about something."

"Oookay..." Aang looked at her weird, but carefully placed his hand on her stomach. "Why?"

Dorji grabbed Aang's arm and twirled around so that his arm ended up hooked around her waist. "Hmm... Nothing..." she muttered as she leaned on Aang's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked.

Dorji released his arm and started walking away. "Checking something." She sniffed the air. "Smells like Lhamo made breakfast. Let's go." She walked away before Aang could ask her more questions. Aang sighed and followed her down the hall.

"Hey, Lhamo," Dorji muttered when she walked into the dining room, turning her head slightly to face her cousin who was currently placing food on the table. Katara and Sokka were seated at the table, eating.

"Hey, what'sh up!" Sokka said in between chewing. "You two are up late!"

"Sokka, please don't talk with food in your mouth," Katara scolded.

"Itsh sho good, though!"

Lhamo smiled. "Thank you! I made it myself!"

Dorji stared at Sokka, seemingly deep in thought. Sokka swallowed. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Dorji jumped, sailing through the air to land gently on Sokka's lap, causing him to squawk in alarm. She forced his free arm around her waist. "Ew. Weird," she muttered.

"One of us is weird here and it isn't me," Sokka objected. He put down his food and picked Dorji up, placing her in the seat next to him. Dorji started snoring despite sitting up. "She is weirdly light. Is that an airbender thing?"

Lhamo rushed over to Dorji. She placed one hand on her shoulder and the other over her forehead. "Dorji are you okay? Have you been eating well?"

Dorji grunted lazily and touched the thumb of her open hand to her chest and then her chin, then started snoring again.

Lhamo put some food in front of her. "Still, you need to eat."

Dorji made a small noise, but started eating. She made another sign after a few bites of food, then stopped eating.

"Ya gotta eat more, kid," Tsering said as she entered the room. "You're worried about your dad, right?"

Dorji sniffed and nodded after a few moments.

Tsering sighed and sat down next to her, facing her despite the fact that her eyes were closed. "I am too, kid. You have to eat, though. I remember, back when I'd just escaped the massacre, I couldn't bring myself to eat at all. It... wasn't good for my health. Felt like I was floating all the time, nearly passed out a lot. Think I _did_ pass out a few times. Remember dreaming about everything being upside-down or something... Where was I?" Dorji touched her thumb to her forehead. "Right, your father. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he busted out of prison and assassinated the Fire Lord or some of his generals, or simply razed their capitol to the ground. He can take care of himself. Now eat."

Dorji nodded and started eating again, ignoring Aang, Katara's bewildered stares from what Tsering had said about her son.

oOoOo

"Goodbye, everyone!" Lhamo said with a wave as Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Dorji boarded Appa. "It was nice meeting you all! Take care of Dorji!"

"Goodbye, Lhamo," Dorji said.

"Thanks for the pie!" Sokka shouted.

"Speaking of pie," Tsering said as she walked into the clearing, followed by a few workers bearing a box, a few sacks, and a few tubes. "I have a few gifts for you all." Despite not moving her hands from where they were clasped behind her back, the packages started floating in bubbles of air and were loaded onto Appa. "One of those is the rest of the pie from last night. Eat it before it goes bad. Those bags contain some of our produce, freshly picked." She smiled and stroked Appa's fur. "I'm sure between the sky bison and the three growing teenagers, you'll need them."

"Thanks!" Aang said. "We'll be sure to use them."

Tsering chuckled. "That's not even the thing I figured you'd like the most. The scroll tubes contain, among other things, copies of genuine Air Nomad scrolls."

Aang's eyes widened. He grabbed one of the tubes, one with the Air Nomad sigil on it, and with shaking hands carefully opened it. He reverentially pulled out a pristine scroll that also had the Air Nomad sigil on it. He unfurled it, revealing instructions for advanced airbending techniques. His eyes welled with tears and he quickly rolled the scroll up and put it back before wiping his eyes. "Y-you..."

The old woman smirked at him. "Figured you'd like that. I may not have been too cut out for the whole monk life, but I'm still an Air Nomad. I decided a while back to preserve as much of Air Nomad culture as I could, hopefully for future generations but at the very least to preserve records of my people." She chuckled. "Made a bit of name for myself in the field of anthropology as a result."

"And you're just giving these to me?" Aang asked.

She shrugged. "As I said, they're copies. I made sure to put the originals in safe hands, so don't worry too much if you lose them."

"What are the other scrolls?" Katara asked.

"I also wrote down some techniques Wangchuck and I made that Dorji might want to refresh herself on. And you might want to learn some of those, Aang." Aang looked a little uncomfortable when she said that. "Just a suggestion, kid. There's also some stuff on Air Nomad culture in there that I thought you might like, plus some recipes in case you want something from home. Aside from that, there are a few scrolls on bending the other elements that I've managed to obtain. Figured that as the Avatar you might have more use for those than me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get much more than theory for fire and water, especially because Wangchuck never fucking told me where he put _his_ scrolls, but it's better than nothing, huh?" She smiled at Katara. "Plus I figure you might appreciate it too, Katara. You _are_ a waterbender, are you not?"

Katara nodded. "Thank you."

"I also managed to find a scroll on healing with waterbending. It's not anything you can use in a fight but, well..." Tsering rolled up her sleeve, revealing a faded but still slightly visible burn scar. "Let's just say I speak from experience when I say that healers are the kind of thing that are always great to have around. I'll try to find practical waterbending scrolls to get to you."

Katara bowed. "You've already given us a lot. I'll try to work with what you've given me already."

Tsering shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I've got enough connections that I should be able to get you a few scrolls eventually."

"That stuff's cool and all, I guess, but I don't suppose you have anything I can use?" Sokka asked.

She nodded. "Fair enough. It might not be quite your fighting style, but there are also a few scrolls on chi blocking in there. The art was originally developed by nonbenders to give them an edge against benders. Dorji can teach the basics to you, if you want. And finally, I added in a few scrolls on Earth Kingdom Sign Language."

"Is that that weird hand thing Dorji was doing earlier?" Sokka asked.

Dorji winced and Katara glared at Sokka.

Tsering stared at him flatly. "Little rude to phrase it like that, but yeah. It's good for sneaking around because you have to be pretty fucking bad at it to make noise while doing it. And while it's not my place to tell you _why_ , Dorji sometimes prefers talking in it so it'd be for the best if at least one of you learned enough of it to hold a conversation."

"Thank you, Grandmother," Dorji muttered shyly.

"Right, you all should leave now. Goodbye, Dorji and Aang." She waved them off with a smile.

"What about us?" Sokka asked as Appa started to rise.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you too." Despite being far away from them at this point and not speaking up at all, her voice traveled perfectly to them.

oOoOo

Aang touched Appa down in a large forest clearing so they could rest for the night. He patted Appa on the head before jumping back onto the saddle. "All right, buddy. Let's see what Tsering got you." He was a little woozy from lack of sleep, but hopefully they'd be sleeping soon so he didn't say anything about it.

Dorji jumped off of Appa and pointed at the ground by his side, making a small circle with her pointing finger. A small cloud of dust kicked up where she pointed. "I'll cushion your fall," she offered.

"Thanks!" Sokka said, then jumped down. When he hit the dust cloud his fall slowed and he fell on his ass with a yelp.

"Sorry," Dorji muttered. She moved her hand to the right slightly, and the dust cloud moved to where she was pointing. She widened her circles, causing the dust cloud to grow larger and wider. "This one should be better, hopefully."

Katara jumped. She also lost her balance when she hit the cloud, but Dorji quickly stepped forward and caught her.

"Thank you," Katara said.

"Y-you're welcome," Dorji said, blushing slightly. She immediately let go of her and stepped back a bit.

"Thanks for catching me, too," Sokka deadpanned as he got up.

"You're welcome," Dorji said.

He looked at her flatly.

Dorji tilted her head and blinked. "Was that sarcasm?" she asked.

Sokka sighed. "Yes, that was sarcasm," he said exasperatedly.

"Ah," she said. She looked a little nervous for some reason. "I'm sorry, I... have trouble with detecting tone, sometimes."

Katara glared at Sokka yet again. "How was I supposed to know that!?" Sokka snapped at Katara.

Katara sighed. "Sorry, you do have a point there. Is there anything else we should be aware of, Dorji?"

Dorji eyes widened. She blushed and gave Katara a very appreciative smile. "I... Sometimes I have... problems processing sounds. It's not too bad anymore, I hope anyway, but please be patient if I need you to repeat things," she muttered.

Katara nodded. "Okay. Is that why your grandmother said you sometimes prefer to use sign language?"

She bit her lip. "It's... part of it. I would also prefer if you faced me while speaking to me, for similar reasons. I can read lips, in case I'm having trouble with hearing."

"How do you read lips?" Sokka asked.

"Lots of practice. Start by looking at lips."

Sokka shrugged. "Fair enough."

Aang jumped off of Appa's saddle after putting the bag of apples he was feeding Appa back. "What're you guys talking about?" he asked.

Katara gave Dorji a look, as if asking her if it was okay to tell him. Dorji nodded to her. "Dorji was telling us about how she has a few... issues with hearing."

"Oh, is that what the sign language was for?" he asked.

Dorji nodded. "I can hear, but I have trouble processing sounds sometimes, if that makes sense," she clarified.

Aang nodded. "I remember one of the boys I grew up with, Dema, had an issue like that too." His face fell. "Dema..."

"I apologize," Dorji said.

"For what?"

Dorji fidgeted. "I... brought up a memory. One that must be painful for you."

Aang shook his head. "No, you didn't even know that'd remind me of Dema."

"Would... would you like something to take your mind off of it?" she offered.

"Thanks!" He smiled at her. "What do you have in mind?"

"If you're going to be fighting the Fire Nation, you need combat skills. Traditional airbending may have had martial arts, but they were mostly restricted to evasion, disengaging, and defense," she explained. She unsheathed one of her daggers and swiped it at a tree off to her side, not even breaking her gaze with Aang. A blade of wind rushed from her blade, slicing a deep gash in the ground as it kicked up a large cloud of dust and slicing the tree almost in half vertically when it hit it. "All of that is good, but you might be a bit lacking in your offensive capabilities, decisively ending a fight." She spun her dagger, then sheathed it. "Shall we begin?"

"I don't feel comfortable with that," Aang said nervously.

"Why not?"

Aang clenched his hands, a sour expression on his face. "That's... That's not airbending."

"Um... Aang?" Sokka put his hand on his shoulder. "Maybe..."

Aang forced his hand off. "No. That's not airbending."

"It is, though," Dorji rebutted. "Well, some of the moves I intend to teach you don't need airbending, but for the one I just showed you? Doing it requires you to stream air along a thin surface, like my daggers or your staff. It might be a little hard at first if you haven't done anything like that, but-"

"That's not what I mean!" Aang shouted. "You're doing it all wrong!"

Dorji sighed. "It's not wrong. Just... different. I understand that it might be upsetting to see such a different style from what you're used to, but... it's not wrong."

"It goes against all of airbending culture!" Aang shouted.

"Aang..." Katara said.

Dorji frowned slightly. "I see. You know, I had always been fascinated with grandmother's scrolls and books about the Air Nomads. Part of it was just that reading was... nice... for me, I will admit, but..." She turned away from Aang and walked a few steps away from him. She stood there for a few seconds, then sniffled and wiped her face. When she turned back around her eyes were a little red. "For a while, I wanted to be like them. They were my people, my ancestors. But at the same time, I was always worried a true Air Nomad would despise me, as I am still my father's daughter, and my father was _not_ a traditional Air Nomad. Thank you for confirming it for me. I told you before, the pacifistic monks of the past died out a century ago. I'm not an Air Nomad. I was never an Air Nomad." She touched one of the green highlights of her clothing. "I was born of the Earth Kingdom. I was raised by the Earth Kingdom. Why should I call myself an Air Nomad?"

Aang's face contorted in anger, then softened slightly. "Fine." He turned around and walked away.

"Fine," Dorji echoed. She pulled the two halves of her father's staff from her belt and started walking towards a large rock.

Sokka and Katara sighed at the same time. "I'll talk to Aang, do you want to talk to Dorji?" Sokka asked.

"That sounds good," Katara agreed.

"Cool." Sokka started climbing back onto Appa, struggling a bit. "Let me just... get something... real quick."

While Sokka was doing that, Katara walked over to Dorji. Wielding the two halves of her father's staff like dual swords due to how long they were compared to her, Dorji swung at the rock with one segment. A wide gash appeared in it despite the fact that the staff never made contact with it. She swung with the other segment, creating a second gash. Next she slashed both, deepening and widening both of the gouges she'd made. She quickly put the two halves of the staff together and started twirling it with insane speed. The wind in the area picked up, and dust clouds flowed towards her staff. She jumped back and threw the staff at the boulder. The spinning staff cut cleanly through the boulder, grinding it in half with little resistance. After it was on the other side Dorji held her hand out to it. The staff shot back, pulverizing the upper half to smaller rocks with pure windy force. Dorji caught the staff and swung it, blowing all the rocks and dust away. She used the momentum of the swing to turn around, jabbing the end of the staff a few inches away from Katara's throat. Tears streamed down the shorter girl's face, and her hands were trembling. The air stilled again.

Katara slowly put her hand on Dorji's shoulder. The airbender stiffened a little, but didn't resist. Katara smiled at her and slowly lowered Dorji's staff with her other hand before pulling her in for a hug. Dorji dropped the staff and started sobbing. "W-why?" she asked. Katara let her go, and she rubbed her eyes. "Why can't I go a day without crying?"

Katara sat down on the remaining part of the boulder, which had conveniently been cut and smoothed into a serviceable, if a little tall, bench by Dorji's practice. She patted a spot next to her and smiled at Dorji, inviting her to sit next to her. Dorji hesitated, but slowly sat down. She tilted her head slightly to Katara, staring at her.

"When my mother died... It was hard on all of us. And the first few days were the hardest. But... it _does_ get easier. And I'm sure I speak for Sokka as well as myself when I say that we will both be here for you when you need a shoulder to cry on." She sighed. "And I'd have hoped that I could say the same of Aang, but now I'm not sure..."

Dorji whimpered.

Katara scowled. "To be honest, I didn't think Aang would blow up like that. I mean, he was a little touchy when he saw what happened to his old temple, but I thought that that was just from seeing the remains of someone he knew..."

Dorji winced. "Did I... some of the things I told Aang must have hurt him. I should apologize." She tried to get up, but Katara put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't. I think he should apologize first. He's hurting, yes, but he has no right to take that out on you."

Dorji leaned on Katara. She didn't say anything else, but Katara hugged her.

oOoOo

Aang sighed. He sat at the edge of a small lake near where they had landed, prodding at the water with some attempts at waterbending. "Maybe I shouldn't have..."

Sokka slapped him on the back of his head, then sat down next to him. "Yeah, you really shouldn't have." His tone was annoyed.

"I'm so-"

Sokka slung his arm around Aang's back, clamping his hand on his shoulder. "No. You're gonna listen. You lost your people and found out the world crumbled after you left. I can't even imagine how horrible that feels. But." He tightened his grip. "If you even begin to think that gives you a right to dump all that out on a girl you just met, _who recently lost her father_ , that's unforgiveable. Imagine if some old friend of that one monk guy you were fond of... Gyatso, I think, came out of nowhere and told you that you weren't fit to be the Avatar, or even an Air Nomad. That's what you just did to Dorji."

Aang sighed. "You're right. I should never have said that. I... I'm sorry."

Sokka patted his shoulder. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, buddy. And first... maybe we should talk a bit. You've got a few issues to work out, clearly."

Aang looked down. "I... I miss them."

"Yeah, that's pretty natural. But what made you lash out at Dorji like that?"

He sighed. "I guess... I'm sure she's not trying to, but she always seems to... remind me they're gone. That I was gone for a hundred years, and my people are long gone." He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. "But... I should never have taken it out on her."

Sokka patted his back. "You know, I know I always complained about the lack of meat and everything, but... If you want to make a traditional Air Nomad dish or something, I'd totally be willing to help." He grinned. "And I'm sure Dorji would, too. But first you gotta apologize to her." He pulled out a scroll. "And I have an idea of something you can do for that."

oOoOo

Dorji had fallen asleep, resting with her head on Katara's shoulder. Katara smiled and stroked her hair gently, as not to wake her. Sokka walked up to her, Aang trailing sheepishly behind.

"I hope you're here to apologize," Katara glared at Aang.

Aang shrank back slightly. "Yeah, I... Shouldn't have taken my feelings out on Dorji." He got out from behind Sokka and faced Dorji. "Dorji, I want to apologize to you," he said, raising his voice to try to wake her up. "My suffering was no excuse for what I said to you. And I was wrong, you may be other things, but you _are_ an Air Nomad, too!"

Dorji, perhaps due to her hearing impairment that she had yet to fully explain to the others, did not react at all to this.

"Maybe you should wait until she wakes up, Aang?" Sokka said.

He nodded. "Right, sorry. Should... should we wake her up or..."

Dorji stirred, then sat up and started rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, did someone try to wake me? You'll need to shake me awake, shouting won't work..." She noticed Aang and stiffened slightly. "R-right. Y-you..." She bit her lip.

Aang placed his hand, a loose fist, on his chest and made a small circular motion with it. The sign, as best he understood the EKSL scroll, for 'sorry.' "I'm sorry," he said, as sincere and contrite as possible. "You reminded me of what I've lost, and I couldn't take that and lashed out at you. But that's not an excuse for how I acted towards you. I understand if you don't forgive me. For what it's worth, you are a real airbender." He smiled. " _You_ are airbending culture, as much as I am. And you have every right to call yourself an Air Nomad."

Dorji sniffed. She rubbed her face, but a few tears fell onto her shirt still. "Th-thank you. And... f-for what it's worth... I'm sorry for hurting you, even if it was unintentional. I'll... I'll try to be more mindful of what I say in the future."

Aang smiled at her. "Thanks. If you want, you could show me that one airbending move. I don't think I'll ever use it on a person, but if I need to cut down a lot of trees really fast I could use it for that?"

She smiled slightly. "Actually... I think I know another move that my grandmother made that might... suit your tastes slightly better. When used on a trained warrior, especially a firebender due to how firebenders train their lungs, it will never cause any lasting damage. And at the same time, it will temporarily disable the person you use it on, especially if they are a firebender."

Aang hugged her. "That sounds great! And later, I can show you some airbending moves of my own!"

Dorji backed up nodded when Aang released her. "I'd like that. But first..." She got into a fighting stance and took a deep breath. "The best way to explain this is with a demonstration. And the best way for you to learn how to do it is to experience it yourself. But I will not do it without your permission, as it can feel... unpleasant."

"Um, is this a good idea?" Sokka asked.

Aang nodded. "Do it. Is there anything I should be paying attention to?"

"Your breath." In a blur, Dorji was suddenly standing inches away from Aang. She paused for just long enough for Aang to focus on her, a rush of wind punctuating her stop, then _jabbed_ him in the solar plexus with two fingers. The amount of force she put into the physical movement was negligible, but Aang still toppled backwards as he felt his lungs empty against his will. He struggled on the ground for a few seconds, finding it hard to regain his stolen breath. Eventually he coughed and shakily took the hand that Dorji had offered him at some point.

"Are you okay, Aang?" Katara asked.

"Gimme... a minute..." he said between pants, a pained grimace on his face as his breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Sorry, I should've mentioned it can be... unpleasant." Dorji said, taking a few steps away from Aang and the others. She looked nervous again.

"No, it's fine," Aang assured her. He chuckled. "I probably should've guessed it wouldn't feel too good, anyway. Still, I can see what you were getting at. And you're sure it doesn't hurt people you use it on?"

She nodded. "Unless you use it on the same person multiple times in a row without letting them breathe, or use it on someone with weak lungs. But a trained soldier should be fine, and the technique will let you take them out of a fight for a few seconds at least, as well as open them up to a finishing move. And most notably, it temporarily disables firebending."

"It disables firebending!?" Sokka parroted, incredulous.

Dorji nodded. "Grandmother made the technique with some principals involved in chi blocking, after performing some... research on firebending." She breathed deeply, in and out, and when she exhaled her breath was very warm. "In fact, she learned that the breathing techniques the Air Nomads used to keep themselves warm in even the coldest of weather were originally based on knowledge given to them by firebenders. Firebending does not come from muscles, but rather the breath. So a technique that disrupts a firebender's ability to breathe..."

"Also disrupts firebending," Sokka finished. "That's... that's amazing!"

"It only lasts a minute or so at best, but it will still throw a firebender off," Dorji continued explaining. "And a master of it can do it from a distance, or even without moving at all, or at least my father and grandmother can. If you need more guidance to learn it, Aang, ask me. But..." Dorji turned to Sokka. "Perhaps you would like to learn chi blocking? You seemed pleased with the concept of disrupting firebending. And it can do more than just disable bending for a few seconds."

He grinned. "That sounds awesome!"

She nodded. "Then let us begin." She collapsed, but still somehow managed to hit the ground lightly. "Tomorrow. I'm tired." She closed her eyes, already asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Actually a slightly better comparison for Dorji's personality would probably be Kanna from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, except she's a small teenager instead of a small child and a bit stabbier. Some other things too (which you might notice in this chapter), but that's the best I have so far... Or maybe not, I haven't watched Kobayashi's Dragon Maid in a while. Alternatively you could probably compare her a bit to Homura from Madoka Magica. Or I could just shut up and show, don't tell, come to think of it...
> 
> Also ugh fuck writers block...

_Previously on Avatar..._

_"You can run but you can't hide, airbenders!" the leader of the firebenders shouted._

_"I'm sorry," Dorji said quietly, seemingly to thin air. "This is all my fault."_

_Dorji grunted lazily and touched the thumb of her open hand to her chest and then her chin."_

_I also managed to find a scroll on healing with waterbending. It's not anything you can use in a fight but, well... Let's just say I speak from experience when I say that healers are the kind of thing that are always great to have around. I'll try to find practical waterbending scrolls to get to you."_

_"And finally, I added in a few scrolls on Earth Kingdom Sign Language," Tsering said. "While it's not my place to tell you why, Dorji sometimes prefers talking in it so it'd be for the best if at least one of you learned enough of it to hold a conversation."_

_"I... Sometimes I have... problems processing sounds. It's not too bad anymore, I hope anyway, but please be patient if I need you to repeat things," Dorji muttered. "I would also prefer if you faced me while speaking to me, for similar reasons. I can read lips, in case I'm having trouble with hearing."_

_Dorji turned to Sokka. "Perhaps you would like to learn chi blocking? You seemed pleased with the concept of disrupting firebending. And it can do more than just disable bending for a few seconds."_

oOoOo

"Bending is connection to an element," Dorji said, her hands on Appa's reins. She was sitting backwards, though, so she could talk to the others more comfortably, and only occasionally looked behind her at where Appa was going. She held her hand out to a passing cloud, causing a miniature funnel cloud to form from it. "When you move air, when you lift water, you become one with it. To a truly masterful bender, their element is an extension of their very body."

"What does this have to do with us wearing blindfolds?" Aang asked from Appa's saddle. He and Katara were both sitting down on opposite sides of the saddle, wearing blindfolds. Sokka was sitting in the back, studying Dorji's chi blocking scroll.

"The reason the Air Nomads used to shave their heads was to give them more connection to air, was it not, Aang?" Dorji asked. When he nodded, she continued, "By shaving their heads, the Air Nomads made themselves more sensitive to the air currents around them, if only a bit. My grandmother trained me in a more... advanced version of this. Thanks to her I learned to feel the very air around me in a wide range, as another sense. Think of the blindfold like... a weight, I suppose. By restricting one of the senses you use the most, you will unconsciously draw on other senses. And once you begin to feel the elements more, your control over them will only increase."

"That makes about as much sense as bending always does," Sokka snarked. He looked at the diagram on his scroll, then carefully pressed his thumb into a spot on his other arm. "Tingly," he muttered.

"Is this really going to work?" Aang asked.

"I learned your little trick, didn't I?" Dorji stated. With the same deadpan expression as always, Dorji showed off the spinning stone trick that Aang entertained the people of Kyoshi with. "At least try to learn mine, please. Though I suppose the blindfolds work better when you're being forced to move around or something else that you would otherwise rely on sight for, which isn't something you can safely do on a flying bison..."

"You didn't do it right, though," Aang noted.

Dorji winced. Despite the blindfolds, Katara and Sokka glared at Aang.

"Sorry, sorry," Aang raised his hands apologetically. "I meant that it doesn't have the same affect if you don't have the expression right." He frowned. "How did I know that, actually?"

"I can have that affect on people," Dorji said. "Or perhaps you're beginning to learn. Regardless, let me try that again."

As if the mental exertion required to even think about purposefully adopting such a whimsical expression was too much for Dorji's brain to handle, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she went limp. The only thing that prevented her from sliding and falling off of Appa was the fact that she somehow managed to drop the reins in such a way that her foot got caught in them and she ended up dangling off the side of Appa's head.

" _DORJI!_ " Sokka screamed in horror.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad, Sokka," Aang said, oblivious to what just happened due to his blindfold. Katara just scowled at him.

oOoOo

Dorji groaned as she woke up. "I _hate_ the spirit world..." She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was sitting in Appa's saddle, and it appeared that they had landed in a forest that had been burnt down. Work of the Fire Nation, she judged from the komodo rhino tracks. She tossed herself off of Appa's saddle, slowly falling to the ground.

"Ah!" But when she touched down, she cried out in pain despite how lightly she landed. She dropped to the ground and clutched her knee.

Dorji's awake!" Katara shouted. She and the others rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" Katara asked.

"I probably just twisted it when I fell..." she muttered, pulling some bandages out of one of the pouches on her belt and taking off her shoe.

"Here, let me," Katara offered. She took the bandage and started wrapping up Dorji's foot for her.

Dorji blushed and fidgeted.

"Sorry, am I putting it on too tight?" Katara asked.

Dorji's blush deepened. She pressed her fingers together nervously. "Mmh. N-no, sorry. I'm just a l-little... ticklish, I guess..."

Katara finished bandaging her foot. "There, is that better?"

Dorji gingerly tested the range of her ankle's motion, then nodded. "Thank you." She pulled the two halves of her staff from her belt, then used them to push off the ground. She balanced on her good leg, then put her staff together and started leaning on it. "It doesn't feel too bad. Hopefully it'll be better in a few days if I keep my weight off of it."

"So what happened back there?" Sokka asked.

She sighed. "I'm... afraid I lost track of the days when I was in that prison. Is the winter solstice approaching?"

Katara nodded. "It's in a few days, but what does that have to do with you passing out?"

Aang gasped. "Did you... pass over to the spirit world?"

She nodded. "That... happens to me sometimes, at times when the two worlds draw closer."

"How is that even possible?" Sokka asked.

"Airbenders, for whatever reason, have souls more easily separated from their bodies. So those among us who are more receptive to the spirit world can actually cross over without meaning to, especially when near areas with strong spiritual ties." She nodded at Aang. "You were warned about this, right?"

Aang nodded back. "Yeah, when we were really young the monks took us aside before one of our holy days and warned us about how we could cross over on accident if the circumstances were right." He thought of something. "Actually, I think they might have asked us to be extra cautious because of me. Sorry, did I accidentally make you cross over? I _am_ supposed to be the bridge between worlds..."

Dorji rubbed her chin. "No... You might have exacerbated it slightly, but I knew that might happen when I decided to travel with the Avatar. The real reason, I think, is that there's something near here that is very connected to the spirit world." She closed her eyes for a few seconds, as if concentrating on something else. "It looks like... a statue to a bear spirit. Maybe the guardian of this forest?"

The other three looked over at a bear statue, which was on the other side of Appa from where Dorji was standing. "Amazing," Katara said. "How'd you do that?"

"As much as I don't act like it, I'm very spiritually receptive. I was born that way," Dorji explained. "Grandmother told me a theory she had, once, that because most of the airbenders died, when my father and myself were born we were given a high degree of spiritual power by the universe in an attempt to restore balance."

Sokka raised his eyebrow.

"I... probably didn't explain that very well, did I?" She leaned against Appa. "In all honesty, I don't get it. But... I don't have any other explanation for it. Because of my strong spiritual receptivity, my ability to sense the air around me also allows me to sense... other things. Spiritual presence among them."

"That makes sense, I guess," Aang said.

Sokka frowned. "I still don't get this whole spirit world thing, but that's good to know, I guess."

"That bison... could you be the Avatar?" an old man asked as he walked through the ruined forest to the group. He smiled when he saw Aang's tattoos. "Please help my village, Avatar."

"Um, I'll try my best, whatever you need," Aang said. "Just take us there."

"I don't suppose you know anything about medicine?" Dorji asked.

"How bad is it?" the man asked, seeing how Dorji was leaning on a staff and not using her bad leg.

"Just a sprain, hopefully," Dorji told him. "Would like for someone who actually paid attention in their first aid lessons to take a look, though."

Everyone stared at her. "Flopsie wanted cuddles," she explained with a shrug.

"As in the _King of Omashu's pet_ Flopsie?" Katara asked.

"He likes it when you scratch him behind the ears," Dorji smiled slightly. "Now, perhaps we should get on Appa? That way he can examine my ankle on the way to his village."

oOoOo

"Its name is Hei Bai," the village chief said after the old man brought them to his house. "It started attacking the village every night recently, I'm sure you saw the houses it destroyed, and it has been spiriting people away, too. The winter solstice, when the boundaries between this world and the spirit world begin to weaken, is drawing near, and we would prefer not to find out what sort of havoc Hei Bai could wreak on that day of all days."

Dorji, who was given the comfiest chair in the house and a footrest to prop up her injured leg, cleared her throat. "A spirit's powers don't grow on the solstice, thankfully. It only takes less effort to cross between the worlds, and powers that involve a connection to the spirit world are easier to use. It might even be that this spirit can only cross over the way it does thanks to the solstice approaching, and the amount of power it'll 'gain' on the day of is negligible at best. Or, I suppose, worst."

The chief nodded in thanks. "That is reassuring to hear, thank you. Regardless, I think that we would all rest much easier if there _wasn't_ a monstrous spirit that wants to attack us. Avatar Aang, please help us and pacify the spirit besieging our village."

Aang bit his lip. "I'll... I'll try."

"Thank you, Avatar."

Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder. "Let's talk," she said gently, then brought him over to the part of the room where Sokka and Dorji were still sitting. "Are you okay? You seem a little nervous."

"I'm not too sure, but... I have to try." Aang looked at Dorji. "Actually, what else do you know about spirits?"

She shook her head. "Not much. My father apparently used to explore the spirit world frequently, but I have a few... issues with it, so I didn't pay much attention to what he told me about it, except for a few things."

"I'm beginning to notice a pattern with you," Sokka noted.

Dorji blushed a little. "I swear I'm normally more competent than that, but in my defense I don't like the spirit world."

Sokka stroked his chin, like he was stroking an imaginary goatee or beard. "And what about your first aid lessons, young lady?" he asked in a weird, authoritative, father figurely voice.

"You can't stare into Flopsie's soulful eyes and tell him no," Dorji defended. "But Flopsie's soulful eyes are irrelevant to our current situation. What I _do_ know is that most spirits will not attack humans without first being provoked... though sometimes the provocation is something that one would not expect a normal person to react so strongly to."

"That's extremely helpful," Sokka snarked.

Katara elbowed him.

"I apologize that I can't offer much more advice," Dorji said. "It's probably something recent, though. If the spirit looks like a bear you might want to start with the forest."

"That... thank you," Aang said. He smiled and hugged her. "I'm feeling much better about this than I did earlier."

She nodded. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Now, you may want to start preparing yourself."

"The girl is right," the village leader said. "The sun is starting to set. Hei Bai will be here soon."

Aang nodded and retrieved his staff. "I'm ready." He walked out the door, a serious look on his face.

"Yyyeah, we're all gonna die..." Sokka said.

Katara hit him. "Don't say that!"

Dorji nodded. "I have the utmost faith in him. And not just because I, as the disabled girl with the sprained ankle, would be the most screwed should Hei Bai attack us, even with my father's staff." She tapped the staff, which was currently leaning on her chair

"In any case, it won't do us any good to worry about it," Katara said. She coated her hands in water from a pitcher that she was given. "And speaking of your ankle, I read that one scroll on healing your grandmother gave us. I'm not sure how successful I'll be, but I still wanna try it."

"It can't hurt," Dorji agreed.

Katara placed her hands on Dorji's foot, which she had left bare other than the bandage after the old man took a look at it. Dorji's cheeks and ears turned pink as Katara closed her eyes and started rubbing her foot. "Does it feel any better?" Katara asked.

"I-it does, b-but only because of the c-cool water, I think," Dorji answered. She smiled slightly, and her blush turned very red. "A-and, a-a really p-p-pretty girl g-giving me a f-foot rub also m-makes me feel a l-lot better."

Katara started laughing so hard that she dropped her water. "Sorry," she said as she retrieved more water, "but that sounds like the sort of thing Sokka would say to some girl." Dorji's face was burning now, though Katara hadn't noticed because she was concentrating on trying to heal Dorji.

Sokka raised his eyebrow at Dorji. "Yeah," he said with a smug grin, "that does sound like the sort of thing I'd say. With someone other than Katara, obviously." Dorji shrank down in her seat and timidly tried to hide her face. Sokka, with an even more smug expression, pointed to the left with two fingers and then made a fist with his thumb pointing up, the signs for 'h' and 'a.' Dorji looked like she very much wanted to use her grandmother's invisibility technique.

"Dorji, are you sure you're okay? You're starting to shake a bit," Katara asked.

"Y-yeah," Dorji squeaked. "M'fine."

"I have no idea what you three are doing, but Hei Bai just showed up in case you want to watch your friend," the village chief said.

"Katara, help Dorji stand," Sokka ordered as he got up.

"Th-that's not really..." Dorji started to say, then trailed off when Katara grabbed her hand. Katara smiled at Dorji as she helped her up. Dorji leaned on her, still blushing heavily, and summoned her staff to her free hand with airbending. "Th-thanks..."

"That is not a bear," Sokka said about the monstrous spirit Aang was trying to talk to.

"I hope Aang knows what he's doing," Katara said.

Dorji stared at the spirit as it smashed down a house with a roar... or perhaps a scream. "He's crying," she muttered.

"What was that, Dorji?" Katara asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Aang looks fine to me," Sokka said.

Dorji shook her head. "Not Aang, Hei Bai."

"That monster is not crying," the village leader said. "It's creepy."

"I think he looks kinda cute, rampaging aside," Dorji shrugged. "He's fluffy and I wanna pet him."

The chief raised his eyebrow at her, then looked at the four-armed monster attacking the village. He stepped away from Dorji.

Aang shouted at Hei Bai to gain his attention, causing Hei Bai to turn around long enough to hit him, sending him flying, before turning back to smashing a building. "That's it, I'm helping him," Sokka said, then ran for the door.

"Sokka, wait!" Katara shouted.

"You can't fight it!" the village chief shouted as Sokka ran out the door.

"I'm going out there too," Dorji said. She defenestrated herself, and once she was clear of the window she unfurled her staff. The revealed glider wings were as black as the rest of the staff. An air current had already formed when she opened her staff, catching Dorji and causing her to shoot off in the direction of the rampaging spirit. She was just a little too late to stop the spirit from grabbing Sokka, who'd thrown his boomerang at him to get him to stop, and running back to the trees.

"Sokka!" Aang shouted, and unfurled his own glider. He joined Dorji in chasing the spirit through the trees, until they reached the part of the forest that had been burned away. Dorji grabbed hold of one of Hei Bai's arms, using her glider to try to slow him down. Aang got close enough to reach out to Sokka, but as soon as Sokka grabbed Aang's hand the spirit shimmered and disappeared, taking Sokka with it. Aang and Dorji remained, but they both fell despite their gliders and were knocked unconscious.

oOoOo

"Ow, my head," Aang said as he woke up. He rubbed his head as he sat up and looked around. While it was still nighttime, it looked like a few hours had passed after they'd been knocked unconscious. "Sokka?" he shouted. "Are you there?" He sighed. "I failed, didn't I?"

He heard a sob. Aang turned around to see Dorji, cowering by the foot of the bear statue. She was curled up in a ball, trembling and covering her head with her arms.

Aang knelt down in front of her. "Are you okay, Dorji?" He asked. She didn't respond at all. "Hey, is your ank-" He gently touched her shoulder.

She shrieked and jerked back. She looked at him, startled and with eyes red and puffy from crying. "A-Aang, y-you're up." She gave a shaky sigh of relief. "Y-you wouldn't w-wake up, a-and I was s-scared..." She sniffled.

"I'm sorry, I guess." Aang looked around. "Do you know where Sokka and the spirit went?" he asked, not looking directly at Dorji.

"U-um... c-could you p-please look at m-me?" Dorji asked.

"Hm?" Aang looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Dorji hugged her knees nervously. "I-I..." She bit her lip. "I... c-can't hear y-you..."

Aang tilted his head, confused. "You... can't?"

"I... I can't hear in the s-spirit world..."

"That... sounds arbitrary," Aang said, then looked around again. "But we're not in the spirit world, are we?"

Dorji's grip on her knees tightened. "It's... more complicated than that. A-and we are. T-this is a sort of... borderland, that only appears at times like the solstice. It's... a thin layer that forms over the material world. I-it's what makes it so easy to cross over to the spirit world. We can see the material world, b-but only those attuned to the spirit world will be able to see us."

"So... how does that translate to you not being able to hear? Or is that too personal of a question to ask, sorry?"

"Well... it _is_ a personal question... but I suppose I should tell the truth..."

"Oh, don't feel the need to tell me if you don't feel like it," Aang said, shaking his head.

Dorji frowned at him. "...It's hard to read your lips if you do that."

"Sorry!"

"It's... fine..." Dorji took a deep breath. "The reason I can't hear in the spirit world... is because I was born deaf."

"You were what?" Aang asked.

"P-please let me explain," Dorji said. "I hear through my ability to sense air, and when a bender crosses over to the spirit world in spirit alone, which is what we did, we lose all bending ability..."

"Including air sense," Aang finished. "Though how does air sense translate to hearing, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dorji nodded slightly. "It's a valid question. The sound you hear is basically just... vibrations in air, so I was taught to read those vibrations." She sighed. "It's... not perfect, though. I have trouble detecting tone of voice sometimes, and if I'm too distracted..." She bit her lip. "I... That's how I got found out..."

Aang put his hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

She took a deep breath. "I... was practicing. Alone. In a clearing. I shouldn't have, but I wanted to surprise Father by learning a technique he had showed me. I let myself become distracted, and while I was practicing it seemed that a Fire Nation soldier snuck behind me." She sobbed. "I-i escaped, b-but the soldier called reinforcements and they chased me. I... I led them right to my father."

"That's not your fault," Aang assured her. She didn't react because her eyes were closed, so Aang squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, that wasn't your fault," he said when she looked at him.

She shook her head. "Father is so much stronger and faster than me. Some call him the most powerful bender in the Earth Kingdom, if not the world. Had he not had to protect me, Father could have slipped away invisibly, or killed them all. But I was there, so he had to slow himself do-"

Aang hugged her. She sobbed and buried her face in Aang's chest. Aang let her cry, neither of them trying to speak, and rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. Her sobs abated eventually. Aang gently pushed her off of him and squeezed her shoulders lightly. "I think... Maybe, we did make mistakes. I ran away from the Air Temple, and more recently I said some horrible and uncalled for things to you. And you might have been surprised by some Fire Nation people. But... we're both kids. Sometimes we'll make mistakes. We should apologize for them, and try not to make the same mistake again, but beating ourselves up over it won't change anything. Tsering didn't blame either of us, and while I don't know your father I do know that if he's anything like Tsering he wouldn't blame you for what happened." Aang got up and held a hand out to Dorji, smiling. "So let's not blame ourselves either, okay?"

Dorji sniffed. It felt as if a weight lifted off her chest as she processed Aang's words. "I think... I think I needed to see that." She took Aang's hand and let him pull her up, leaning on him due to her bad ankle. "Thank you."

"And for what it's worth, I'm still really sorry for the 'you're not a real airbender' thing..."

Dorji nodded, but still frowned a little. "Let's just... not talk about that again, please. Now, what are we going to do."

"If you want, you can try to go back to our world. I'll try to look for Sokka until morning, if that's how it works here."

"There is morning here." Dorji bit her lip, then squeezed Aang's hand a little. "I think... I think I'll stay with you. For now. I don't know how how much help I'll be, but I want to try. And it might be better for both of us to have someone else."

Aang nodded. "Thanks." Then he squeezed Dorji's hand. "How about we hold hands, and when I need to talk to you I can squeeze your hand or something to get your attention?"

"That sounds good, thank you."

He smiled at her. "Great. Now, let's try to find Sokka."

The walked around the ruined forest in silence, looking for anything out of place. Eventually, Aang heard something. He quickly turned to face Dorji and squeezed her hand. "I think I hear... wings flapping?" he said when she looked at him. He wasn't quite sure that was what it was, but it was his best guess.

"I'll take your word for it." She looked up, then her eyes widened and she pointed at a figure approaching from above. It was a red, serpentine creature that flew towards them on great red wings. "Could that be it?" she asked, surprisingly calm. She glanced back at him for his response.

"Is that a dragon!?" Aang asked. The dragon landed in front of them.

"It looks like Avatar Roku's dragon. Could it be here for you?" Dorji speculated.

The dragon nodded, then leaned forward. Aang flinched back, but calmed when the dragon touched his whiskers to his head.

"Oh. Thank you," he told the dragon. He turned back to Dorji. "He wants to show me something. Is it okay if I leave with him?"

Dorji nodded, then bit her lip. "Go, but I think... if you're going I want to leave the spirit world."

Aang squeezed her hand. "That's fine. There's nothing wrong with leaving somewhere that makes you uncomfortable."

"Thanks," she nodded, then closed her eyes. She breathed in, then out. Her body glowed and turned transparent, then she shot back off to where they'd entered the spirit world. The sleeping form of Dorji's body in the material world stirred when her spirit body entered her. Dorji got up, leaning on her staff again, then nodded to Aang and the dragon. As Aang got on the dragon, Dorji twirled her staff. The motion generated more wind than should've been possible, allowing Dorji to shoot herself up into the air, then unfurl her staff. The wind shot her back to the village.

oOoOo

Dorji landed in the center of the town.

"Dorji, you're back!" Katara shouted, then ran over to hug her.

Dorji squeaked.

"Oh, I was so worried about you!" Katara exclaimed, letting her go. "What happened? Where are the others?"

"A-ah..." Dorji fidgeted a little. "Sokka... is probably in the spirit world. I know Aang is in the spirit world, we entered there on accident. He was contacted by a... representative, of sorts, of Avatar Roku, so hopefully he'll know how to best resolve the situation when he returns."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "A representative of..."

"Avatar Roku, the Avatar before Aang. I've heard that the Avatar before the current one acts as a spiritual advisor for the current one, so he's in good hands. All that's left for us to do is wait."

"That's good to hear," the village chief, who had walked over to them, said. "Is there anything we can do while we wait for the Avatar to come back?"

Dorji slumped into Katara's chest. "Food, please," she muttered, still keeping eye contact with the village chief. "Going to the spirit world can be draining. I need food, Aang will need food, and when he gets the others back they'll need food. And I have an idea that might help, but I'll need to regain some energy before I try it." And then she closed her eyes and started snoring.

Katara picked her up. "I'll take her somewhere more comfortable. Can you get some food for her?"

The chief nodded. "I'll get right on that."

oOoOo

The sun was beginning to set, though it was hard to tell under the cover of the clouds that blanketed the sky, but Aang was still nowhere to be found. Katara was waiting for him outside the village chief's house, but she was starting to look worried. "Where are you, Aang?"

"He's approaching," a soft voice said from behind her.

Katara jumped, then turned to see Dorji standing behind her. She wasn't leaning on her staff anymore, as her ankle had healed up a bit. "Oh, Dorji, you scared me."

Dorji bowed her head slightly. "Right, sorry."

"It's okay. What did you want to tell me?"

"I... sensed... Aang's spirit moving towards his body. Very fast, too. He should be back in our world by now." She tilted her head slightly, as if "listening" to something, then pointed at the sky behind Katara.

Katara turned around and looked at something in the distance where Dorji was pointing. "Aang!" she shouted.

The small figure flying in the distance grew to reveal that it was Aang, and Aang landed in front of Katara and Dorji. "Sorry, am I late?" he asked.

"I think you'd know if you were late," Dorji said flatly.

"You're back, Aang!" Katara hugged him. "Do you think you know what to do about the spirit now."

Aang gave her a determined expression. "I'm not entirely sure, but I'll try my best."

Hei Bai seemed to fade into existence right behind him.

"As soon as Hei Bai appears I'm going to..." Aang felt something breathing down his neck. "It's behind me, isn't it?"

Dorji and Katara nodded.

Aang turned around and stared at Hei Bai, determined. "You're angry because the Fire Nation destroyed your forest, aren't you?" he said.

The spirit growled at him.

Aang pulled out an acorn. "I was so angry when I saw it, too. But my friends showed me that, even if it looks bad now, there's still hope for it to regrow in the future."

Hei Bai's expression softened.

"Actually," Dorji butted in, "I heard that forest fires can cause the soil to become even more nutritious, because the nutrients from dead trees get turned into ash and then mixed with the soil, or something. Obviously it's still better for the forest not to get set on fire, but with some rain to let the ash absorb into the soil..." As if on cue, a raindrop fell on the spirit's nose. More started falling, a light drizzle at first but slowly getting heavier. "The forest might regrow healthier than ever."

Hei Bai seemed to be processing that, his expression softening further as the rain soaked it. He shimmered and morphed into a panda, then picked the acorn Aang had offered him up with his mouth. Dorji stepped forward, holding her hand up in front if his face.

Interestingly enough, Dorji didn't seem to be getting wet at all despite the pouring rain coming down all around her.

The bear spirit pressed his forehead into Dorji's hand, accepting her invitation. Dorji hugged him, then started scratching him behind his ears. He made happy bear noises in response. Aang slowly placed his hand on Hei Bai's neck, then started rubbing it when he didn't object to it.

"That's nice and all, I suppose," Katara said as her friends cuddled with the spirit that had attacked them and took her brother away yesterday, "but could you please give back the villagers you spirited away? And my brother?"

Aang stopped petting Hei Bai, but Dorji, whose face was buried in his neck, didn't seem to notice what Katara had said. "Sorry," he said.

Hei Bai made a noise that sounded like it might also have been an apology, then slipped through Dorji's grasp, heading to the forest. As he walked, ethereal bamboo started to sprout from the ground. Aang and Katara walked after him.

"Huh?" Dorji said when Hei Bai passed through her arms, then noticed Aang and Katara following Hei Bai. She trotted after them, walking in between the two.

"How'd you know it'd rain just then?" Katara asked her. As with before, Dorji didn't seem to hear her.

Aang grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Dorji turned to him. "Sorry, did you say something? I have trouble hearing things when it's raining."

"I didn't, but..." Aang pointed at Katara.

"Sorry, I should've gotten your attention first," Katara apologized when Dorji looked at her. "I asked how you knew it'd rain, it seemed like you already knew it was about to rain when you said what you said."

"Those rain clouds have been gathering since I woke up," Dorji pointed out.

Aang frowned. "I know you probably meant that you just guessed it might rain soon, but to be honest it kinda sounded like you were implying you _caused_ the rain."

Dorji didn't seem to notice what Aang said, and instead ran forward as Hei Bai started to disappear into a thicket of bamboo of his own making. As people started to emerge from the thicket, she ran through some bending form that both Aang and Katara thought looked a little familiar, but couldn't quite place. As she did, the effect that caused the rain to avoid her expanded, a swirling field of air that looked something like a lazy, hemispherical funnel cloud protecting the people who were coming back from the spirit world from the elements.

"Wow, how are you doing that?" Aang asked her.

"Airbending," she muttered. "Perhaps we should check on them?"

Some of the villagers, led by their chief, ran into the air shield, small gaps forming in it whenever they were about to touch it. It seemed like Dorji had somehow talked with them about it beforehand, as they didn't pay it much mind aside from a small amount of wonder at the barrier made from of wind and clouds. They came with towels and hot meals (though unfortunately they were a little wet...) for the people who just came back from the spirit world.

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed when she saw her brother stumbling from the bamboo. She ran up to him and hugged him. "I was so worried about you! How are you doing?"

Sokka danced weirdly. "Thanks, but... _I really have to pee!_ " He wiggled out of the hug and ran out of the cloud barrier. He went so fast that Dorji didn't have the time to fully open a hole in it.

"There are no bathrooms in the spirit world," Dorji noted dully.

oOoOo

Sokka left the bathroom, sighing in relief.

"I'm glad you're okay," Dorji said. She was leaning on the wall near the door, holding a bowl of curry. She offered the curry to Sokka. "Courtesy of the village chief." Sokka reached to grab it, but then Dorji pulled it back. "Actually, did you not wash your hands?"

Sokka growled at her, then went back into the bathroom. A few seconds and sounds of water later, Sokka came back out, still growling, and snatched the bowl from Dorji.

"Seriously, though, are you okay?" Dorji asked him as he downed the soup. "While there were... circumstances that made my first time in the spirit world more terrifying than if could've been, chief among them being the fact that I was five, the spirit world is a confusing place to just randomly be dropped against your will in regardless of circumstances."

Sokka shrugged. "It was pretty freaky, but to be honest that's just been my life since we met Aang."

"Still, if you do need to talk about it I'll be there for you," Dorji said. "And... thanks, for not being weird about it when you noticed..."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Though I do feel like I should remind you that, as Katara's older brother, I will have to tease you about having a crush on her."

"I was worried about that..." she muttered. "Now, I think Aang's about to do something rash, so let's go catch up with him."

Sokka gulped some of his curry. "Yeah, let's go."

oOoOo

"What was Aang just about to do?" Sokka asked Katara. Aang and Katara were standing in front of Appa, who looked like he was being readied to fly.

"I was-" Aang started to say, but was cut off by Katara.

"He was about to leave without us," she said. "Something about Avatar Roku."

"I have to go to an island in the Fire Nation by tomorrow," Aang explained. "I didn't want..."

Dorji jumped onto Appa. "Nope," she said, reclining in the back of his saddle. The rain started avoiding Appa, though without quite as much of the vision-obscuring cloud barrier around him.

"Yeah, we're not letting you go without us," Sokka said, then started trying to climb Appa. "We're going to the Fire Nation together."

Aang sighed. "Thanks, guys."


End file.
